Nearly three-quarters of people admit to using the internet for personal use whilst at work

67% admit to using social media to find out more about a person they have just met

Over one in every two people employ a ‘try-before-we-buy’ scheme by visiting stores to test or try on products before purchasing from the comfort of our own living rooms

We don’t like our pride taking a hit with 83% of us admitting to using the internet to settle an argument

Calendars seem to have gone out the window as 61% of us use social media to keep tabs on birthdays and events

We just can’t live without internet

Close to three quarters (74%) of those who answered our survey admitted that they spend more time online than they did five years ago, an indictment of how technologically reliant the current generations are nowadays, be this for work or personal usage. This seems particularly true in the under-30s age bracket (54%). Interestingly, 35-49 year olds spent the least amount of time online, perhaps indicating a bigger work/personal life imbalance and also extra family responsibilities. Despite that though, just under a third of all people (31%) answering the survey admitted they felt they probably spent too much time online.

So where do we use the Internet and what for?

Aside from work and at home, checking the internet on the daily commute (57%) seems to be the most popular location for us to use internet. The largest amount of time that people used the internet for was work where 43% of people used it for four to eight hours. Whilst at work, users don’t just use the internet for work-related activities but also for their own personal usage (74%). Two thirds of people also admitted to using and accessing social media whilst at work. Outside of work, our figures show that:

75% of people use social media less than two hours per day, with 5% saying they didn’t use social media at all

We are consumers of news: 94% of us check a news website at least once per day, with 43% of us spending over an hour reading news online

An overwhelming majority of people (92%) shopped online for one hour or less per day

A large number of people do not use the internet for online gaming (43%), whilst only 17% said they gamed for two hours or more.

People enjoy listening to music, 76% of respondents stating they use their internet to download, stream or access songs at some point each day.

Additional activities our respondents said they used the internet for ranged from financial activities such as checking share prices and online banking, to using Skype with friends and family, reading blogs and websites for sports and health/wellbeing.

How do we access the internet?

Using internet whilst on the move seems to be a growing trend with 85% of users accessing web content via mobile phone. Contrastingly, in our homes and at work, the traditional desktop PC seems to be on the decline with less people (65%) stating that they use one of these than people with laptops (87%). 45% of people responding also owned and used a tablet. Of the other available ways of using the internet, nearly a quarter of people use a gaming console (24%) and almost one fifth (19%) admitting that they use it through their television.

So what have we learnt?

The main thing we have learnt from this survey is how vast and significant the internet is in our lives. Whilst there are limitations in the survey in that those respondents from Twitter are likely to be tech savvy skewing the results slightly, the very fact that some people confirmed they did virtually everything online says a lot. We can have the internet when we want it, where we want it and for anything we want. But with the growth of the eCommerce market, companies are looking to combat this on the high street by incorporating internet, Wi-Fi and technology into stores to encourage sales and also for customer convenience. As described by Joanna Wild, the Retail Director of Thomas Cook: “it’s more Apple than travel.” What do you think to our results? Is there anything that has come out of our survey that has surprised you? Is the ‘store of the future’ indeed the future and have you ever used one? Let us know by adding your comment below.*Figures compiled based on 111 responses. Responses received from Twitter followers and staff members both internally and externally from partners between Wednesday 13th November and Friday 15th November.